The Team Behind Bistro Rex Has Opened a Roman Wine Bar in Monopole's Former Potts Point Home

Italian wines and Roman-inspired dishes from a former Shell House chef have arrived at the former Macleay Street home of Monopole in the form of Enoteca Ponti. This 79-seat wine bar and restaurant opened its doors last month, coming to Potts Point from the team behind beloved Sydney French spot Bistro Rex.

Chef Aldo Farroni has moved over from the CBD's new multi-storey mega venue to helm a kitchen focused on producing fresh takes on Roman-style classics with seasonal produce. Not many menus in Sydney stay the same these days, and Enoteca Ponti is no different, adjusting to what's freshest and most in-season at any one time. The inaugural menu features expected players like a tomato and pecorino rigatoni, burrata with basil oil, veal tartare and appellation oysters, but there are plenty of unexpected twists throughout the menu.

Kick your meal off with lasagne spring rolls accompanied by a fermented chilli aioli, or tuna noodles intensified by a wasabi emulsion. Make your way down the menu and you'll find beetroot risotto made with yoghurt, dill and capers; ox tongue with salsa verde; and roasted spatchcock paired with caramelised witlof.

For meat-lovers, the crowning jewel of the menu is a 600-gram Westholme t-bone steak with an MBS between six and seven.

"My food, my vision for Enoteca Ponti, is to bring the Italian cuisine of my heritage and evolve it to suit a modern, global context," Aldo said. "I want Enoteca Ponti to mirror the authentic Italian dining experience – sharing great food and wine at the table with friends."

As for both the drinks selection and the romantic fit-out, Enoteca Ponti pays homage to 1950s wine bars of Rome with geometric tiles reminiscent of Italian architect Gio Ponti, and an extensive list of European wines.

While there's plenty on for fans of classic wine — a Venetian pinot grigio or a Tuscan red, for example — the wine list doesn't shy away from new-age mould-breaking winemakers. There's a 2018 Venetian Il Castagnucoli orange wine available by the glass and a pét-nat out of Geelong among the selection of Italian and French sparking wines.

Enoteco Ponti is located at 71A Macleay Street, Potts Point. It's open 5pm–late Monday–Thursday and midday–late Friday–Sunday.